Take a Hint
by Naidoo
Summary: He hated paperwork. And it certainly didn't get done any quicker with Ianto running around the Hub in jeans - especially when Captain Jack Harkness couldn't loose the feeling that the prints on Ianto's shirts were a message.


Everyone knew them. These mornings when getting up seemed sheer impossible. And when you eventually did get up, you had this feeling that something would be happening today. Whether good or bad – who knew?

Sitting behind his desk, Jack certainly regretted that he didn't listen to his inner voice that had whispered 'stay in bed'. His desk had quite impressively high-stacked files on it. Files that needed his attention. Since weeks – maybe even months. It had been reports, sightings, and quite a lot of this also would be his paperwork – unfinished paperwork.

Jack hated paperwork. He was more for the action out in the field. Chasing after aliens, fighting, shooting, even negotiating – _that_ was his job. Sitting behind a desk and writing down what had or had not occurred held no appeal to him. And right now, it looked like his next few days would be filled with exactly that: sitting behind a desk and writing reports and going through files. But as much as he hated that certain task of his job, he also knew hoping for some Rift interruption would eventually only make the pile grow.

Sighing loudly he reached for the file the highest up on the pile and opened it, finding out what it was about and what was required and started to work his way through the pile. After what felt like hours of writing his reports or filling out forms, Jack saw a blue cup appear under his nose, the scent of fresh coffee filling his nostrils instantly.

He smiled to himself, thinking that Ianto and his coffee could not have picked a better time to appear. Writing out the last few words of his current report, he closed the file, put his pen aside and engaged himself fully in the coffee.

"You're a lifesaver, Ianto Jones. Thank you," Jack said, taking another sip of the coffee.

"Always at your service, sir," Ianto replied and Jack heard the smile in the other man's voice, before putting the coffee cup down and looking up at Ianto.

And that was when he stopped thinking. Or breathing. Or everything altogether. For a moment he just stared at the picture in front of him and he was wondering whether he was daydreaming, or hallucinating. If this really was a dream, Captain Jack Harkness hoped that the course of this one would be similar to the others, with Ianto starting to do very _interesting_ things in a few moments time. Things like removing his clothes. And talking dirty. And somehow ending up on Jack's desk. With Jack on top of him.

Time passed by, seconds, minutes, but instead of Ianto removing clothes all Jack got was the other man standing in front of him, looking at him curiously.

"Are you alright, sir?" he heard him ask, stepping slightly closer towards the desk.

Jack cleared his throat for a moment, before replying. "Yes, perfect. Just… I don't remember the last time I actually saw you not wearing a suit," Jack simply said, and that was a lie. He _did _remember the last time. Which had been months ago. It was their first meeting, when Ianto Jones stepped into his life, helping him with a Weevil. Back then he had already liked the rather casual attire Ianto wore that night and just realized that he never actually had seen him without a suit again. Shame actually, seeing he clearly had been missing out.

"When we met," Ianto simply said, a soft smile on his lips.

"What… what happened?" Jack asked curious, taking another sip of coffee to distract himself for a moment.

"When we met?" Ianto asked, confused, still the faintest smile on his lips.

"No," Jack answered, shaking his head in amusement. "I mean what … what happened to the suits?"

"Mix-up at the dry cleaners and a few other things that left me without any useable suit this morning," Ianto smiled at Jack almost apologetic. "Is it that bad?" he asked partly amused a moment later.

"No," Jack was quick in reassuring the other man. Maybe a bit too quick. _The exact opposite_, he thought to himself. Jack always had thought Ianto looked good in suits, but seeing him now standing in front of him in jeans and a t-shirt he had definitely seen before – not on Ianto though – he came to realize that Ianto in jeans was a whole other level of hotness. "Just... unusual to not see you in a suit."

He took a moment letting his gaze take in fully what stood in front of him. The jeans were the perfect size, dark wash and clung nicely to Ianto's backside, a view Jack certainly could have spent all day enjoying.

The shirt Ianto was wearing looked very well worn and slightly washed-out, reading 'Follow the Captain' on the front – something that somehow made Jack grin. It was pretty much a plain, gray shirt and had the perfect size, tightening around certain parts of his torso when Ianto moved.

The thing was that Captain Jack Harkness had a thing for the Welshman. Usually that would have been already enough reason to make a move on him, but with Ianto… he just wasn't sure. It wasn't like Jack was doubting himself, or his appeal to others – no, he knew fairly well he could have his pick from almost everyone if he really wanted. But he liked having Ianto around. And he feared making a move on him might send Ianto running. Yes, when he flirted Ianto responded, but Jack never knew whether it wasn't pure politeness. He just couldn't tell. And since the last time he had actually made a move on one of his colleagues – years ago really – and that had ended in enough drama to last him a lifetime or two, he had become careful.

He hated not being able to tell these things. He hated them just as much as having to keep his hands to himself – which had seemed almost impossible over the past few weeks. He had spent quite a few moments all alone with Ianto, mainly in the archives when the other man needed a hand moving boxes up to the Hub. Or when he needed help in the cells. Or when Ianto needed help with their pet. In retrospective Jack wasn't quite sure why Ianto needed his help with the last two, but he surely wouldn't complain.

"No worries, the suits will be back before you know it, sir," Ianto just smiled, leaving Jack a moment later back to his piles of files. _Oh, the joy_.

For the next three days Ianto showed up in Jack's office, no suits in sight, but the jeans got tighter and definitely gave Jack a few good moments of distraction during the day. Sometimes he found himself by the glass wall of his office that overlooked the Hub and just watched Ianto move around the hub, bending over, up and down for all sort of reasons. Certainly a very welcome distraction to the paperwork that still was awaiting him on his desk with the piles of files having gotten quite a bit smaller over the last few days.

The jeans altered by day, mainly in color and wash. The shirts Ianto seemed to wear for the past few days usually never missed getting a smile out of Jack for their messages printed on them. 'Follow the Captain' or 'Take me to your leader'. His favorite had to be a deep red one that sported a smiley and read 'Fel hyn a welwch?' Jack had no idea what it meant but it made him smile nevertheless, probably more because Ianto really looked good in red.

And then Friday happened. The coffee was on his desk before Jack even was up in his office, but judging by the steaming it couldn't have been sitting on his desk for long. Ianto was nowhere to be seen, probably making his rounds for the others. About an hour in Ianto suddenly appeared in the door, another cup of coffee in hand and Jack almost stopped breathing.

The jeans he wore today definitely were a size too small, not that it was bad. It put everything so nicely on display for Jack. And okay, maybe that was bad. Bad for _him_, if he intended on getting _anything_ done today and not spent all day fantasizing. Ianto partially turned around for a moment, Jack half-noticed Owen appearing in his door, asking something about something and Jack just nodded, which seemed to please Owen, who disappeared a moment later. God knew to what he had agreed or gave his blessings. Not that he cared, not when he was very hard trying not to jump over his desk, run over to Ianto and pinch his backside, which was just… looking a bit too good in those jeans. Not that there actually was such thing. They were also washed out and looked worn-out in all the right places. Places that made Jack's imagination kick into overdrive.

The shirt was a plain white, with colorful letters that read 'Take the hint'. On some days Jack could have sworn these shirts were a hidden message, but that was ridiculous. There never was anything to back that up, never any sort of action on Ianto's side. And when it came to flirting it was always Jack who started it, so Ianto probably just really responded out of politeness. Jack probably just imagined things, _wanting_ them to be messages when all they were, were probably just…. plain, old t-shirts.

"Still waiting for your… dry cleaner?" Jack asked amused, although thinking was a slightly bit tricky right now. Following his question he winked at Ianto.

Ianto just shrugged at him, a soft smile on his lips. "Something about another mix-up and some sort of backlog."

"Did they give you an idea about when you can expect your suits?" Jack asked curiously, wondering when this sweet and delightful torture would be over. And he was already dreading _that _day.

Ianto shrugged once more. "Not really. Hopefully by the beginning of next week. But who knows. By then they probably find another reason and I will end up buying a few new suits."

For a moment Jack was torn between being excited that he could enjoy Ianto in jeans for a few das more and also worried that if he would enjoy that view a few days more, he might actually do something he could – most likely even would – regret later on. So he just nodded.

"Well, it definitely was interesting seeing you out of your suits," Jack smiled at Ianto. "At some I just thought all you actually do own are suits."

The Welshman laughed at Jack's remark, having heard this maybe once or twice before from others.

"I have you informed I actually only wear them at work. Over the weekends I usually am not going anywhere near them. Too much hassle."

"Hmm…. Somehow I had always pictured you going home and falling asleep, still in your suit," Jack laughed, winking at Ianto again.

"I actually sleep in the buff, sir," Ianto matter-of-factly informed Jack, who might have just shifted slightly on his chair when he had processed _that_ piece of information.

"You do?" Jack asked surprised, shifting a bit more on his chair. And all the images running through the Captain's mind that moment. All the possibilities. Oh, all the fantasies. And maybe it was time he'd show up unexpected at the younger man's door-step.

At three.

In the morning.

Ianto just nodded as a response.

"That certainly makes things interesting when you need to leave your apartment unexpectedly. At night. Let's say when there is a fire or something…"

At that Ianto just looked at Jack for a moment, before shaking his head.

"What are sheets for…" he stated, giving Jack half a heart-attack.

"You actually would leave your apartment at night, wrapped in only a sheet?" he asked incredulous. Oh, that would supply his mind with plenty of possible and impossible images until he end of the year, decade even.

"Um… yeah?" Ianto answered, although it was more a question. "Anyway….I'm telling you I wear nothing at all to bed and _that_ is your first response?"

Now it was Jack's turn to look at Ianto. "Certainly not the first, or second… or third. You should know me better by now," he just said, grinning at him widely.

Ianto pressed his lips together, nodded knowingly and Jack could have sworn he saw the lightest bit of pink coloring Ianto's cheeks.

"I… um… think I better go. I still have quite a few things on my list of stuff I need to get done today in the archives," Ianto said the next moment, at which Jack just nodded, maybe a tiny bit disappointed. He somehow had expected a comeback from him. "Unless you need anything else right now?" he heard him asking a few moments later, seeing Ianto point towards the mug of coffee that was still standing on his desk. Jack shock his head, before deciding on focusing back on the last few files on his desk. One last look at Ianto and he needed to smile, reading the print on the other man's shirt before he turned around and went. 'Take a hint!' _A hint to what?_ Jack was wondering. There it was again, his mind trying to make him believe these really were messages.

Turning around, Ianto was on his way to Jack's door, giving the Captain once again a very nice view of his backside. Almost sighing, Jack's eyes travelled up Ianto's back until they stopped in shock – or surprise. On the plain gray cloth Jack made out writing that looked suspiciously like Ianto's handwriting. In big, black, bold marker he could read the second part of that 'message' that started with 'Take a hint' and ended with '…and ask me out already, Harkness.'

FIN

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**Translation: ****Fel hyn a welwch? - Like what you see?**


End file.
